kukac

See also: kukać

Hungarian

FWOTD – 28 September 2021

(1) kukac

Etymology

From Kajkavian Serbo-Croatian kúkac (“insect”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkukɒt͡s]
• Hyphenation: ku‧kac
• Rhymes: -ɒt͡s

Noun

kukac (plural kukacok)

1. maggot (soft, legless larva of a fly or other dipterous insect)

   Coordinate terms: (worm) féreg, (caterpillar) hernyó, (earthworm) giliszta, nyű (their senses may overlap, especially in informal speech)

   • 1925, Géza Gárdonyi, “Hernyó”, in Mai csodák‎^[1]:

     Mert abból a kukacból, ami a cseresznyében van, kis fekete légy lesz.

     Because maggots found in cherries turn into small black flies.

2. (Internet) at sign, at (the symbol @, most commonly used in email addresses)

   Synonym: kukacjel

   • 2009, “Munkaajánlatok a járásban”, in Új Szó‎^[2], volume 62, number 283:

     Az életrajzokat a dunauto-kukac-dunauto-pont-com e-mail címre küldjék.

     Send your CV to the following email address: dunauto-at-dunauto-dot-com.

3. (childish, slang) willy, wee-wee (penis, especially that of a prepubescent boy)

   Synonyms: kuki, fütyi

   • 1997, Csaba Lászlóffy, “Külső zajok”, in Pannon Tükör‎^[3], volume 2, number 5:

     Inkább törődj most a kis kukacoddal.

     Now you'd better get busy with your little willy.

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	kukac	kukacok
accusative	kukacot	kukacokat
dative	kukacnak	kukacoknak
instrumental	kukaccal	kukacokkal
causal-final	kukacért	kukacokért
translative	kukaccá	kukacokká
terminative	kukacig	kukacokig
essive-formal	kukacként	kukacokként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	kukacban	kukacokban
superessive	kukacon	kukacokon
adessive	kukacnál	kukacoknál
illative	kukacba	kukacokba
sublative	kukacra	kukacokra
allative	kukachoz	kukacokhoz
elative	kukacból	kukacokból
delative	kukacról	kukacokról
ablative	kukactól	kukacoktól
non-attributive possessive – singular	kukacé	kukacoké
non-attributive possessive – plural	kukacéi	kukacokéi

Possessive forms of kukac

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	kukacom	kukacaim
2nd person sing.	kukacod	kukacaid
3rd person sing.	kukaca	kukacai
1st person plural	kukacunk	kukacaink
2nd person plural	kukacotok	kukacaitok
3rd person plural	kukacuk	kukacaik

Derived terms

• kukacos

Compound words

• sajtkukac
• számkukac

Expressions

• gyáva kukac

Further reading

• kukac in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

The word entered the standard language from the Kajkavian Serbo-Croatian dialect, morphologically from kȕka (“hook”) + diminutive suffix -ac. First attested in the 18th century.

Noun

kukac m anim (Cyrillic spelling кукац) (Croatia)

1. insect
2. bug
3. beetle

Declension

Declension of kukac

	singular	plural
nominative	kukac	kukci
genitive	kukca	kukaca
dative	kukcu	kukcima
accusative	kukca	kukce
vocative	kukče	kukci
locative	kukcu	kukcima
instrumental	kukcem	kukcima

Further reading

• “kukac”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026